Syndrome X, Diabetes and Chinese Medicine

By Dr. Maoshing Ni, Ph.D., D.O.M., Dipl.ABAAHP

As
the holiday season comes to an end, we may have over-indulged in plenty
of candies, sugar-filled deserts and pastries made from refined flours.
Certainly it is generally more difficult during this time of the year to
maintain your healthy eating habits, so here is a gentle reminder:
contrary to your beliefs, you do have control over your health because
good health is a choice. By making proper food choices, you can avoid
developing degenerative diseases and avoid unnecessary suffering down
the road. In this edition of the newsletter, I have chosen to discuss a
condition called syndrome X, also known as metabolic syndrome or
pre-diabetes which affects as many as 22 percent of American adults, or
some 47 million people. Syndrome X significantly increases a person's
risk of developing life threatening chronic diseases such as diabetes,
heart disease and stroke.

Walking Time Bomb

What is
unsettling is that most of the 40 million plus Americans with syndrome X
have not been diagnosed with the condition. These people are walking
"time bombs" that may be in danger of finding out too late by
experiencing catastrophic heart attack or stroke as their first symptom.
Syndrome X sometimes is referred to as insulin-resistance or
pre-diabetes. The syndrome is most common among populations in Western
countries such as the United States, Canada, and Britain and appears to
run in families. The disease rate is rising. Most alarmingly, between
two studies conducted by CDC on the syndrome, one from 1988 to 1994 and
the other from 1999 to 2000, it was found that the increase among adults
ages 20 and older were 25.7%. The increase was much more substantial
among women than men and is in part due to tens of millions of female
baby boomers going through menopause in the last decade. Menopause
typically results in weight gain, especially around the abdomen, which
is the leading cause of syndrome X.

Risk factors

Following are
the guidelines for establishing a diagnosis of syndrome X:

Abdominal
or "central" obesity (waist size of greater than 40 inches in men,
greater than 35 inches in women)

Elevated
levels in the blood of triglycerides (150 mg/dl or more) and LDL
(bad) cholesterol

Low levels
of HDL (good) cholesterol (lower than 40 mg/dl)

Elevated
blood pressure (greater than 130/85)

Normal or
high levels of glucose (as measured by a "fasting" glucose test)

Insulin
resistance

Elevated
C-Reactive protein (marker of inflammation)

If you checked
off more than four of the indicators above, you are most likely
suffering from syndrome X.

Checklist for Syndrome X or
Pre-diabetes

In the absence
of blood test, the list of symptoms below may help you determine if you
are at risk of having syndrome X:

Drowsiness, fatigue

Frequent,
copious urination

Excessive
thirst

Excessive
hunger

Itching of
the genitals and skin

Visual
disturbances

Skin
infections, slow healing

Numbness
in the hands or feet

Flu-like
symptoms

Dark skin
patches around the joints

Loss of
hair on the legs

Increased
facial hair, small yellow bumps anywhere on the body

Inflammation of the penile skin

If you checked
off more than four symptoms from the above list, you should ask your
doctor to screen you for syndrome X or diabetes. Invariably, syndrome X
leads to Type II diabetes. And the link between diabetes and heart
disease is clearly established. According to our good friend Dr. David
Heber, director of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition in a recent
interview with the L.A. Times, "80% of all heart disease will be due to
diabetes in the next decade and there is a direct chain from obesity to
diabetes to heart disease!" Not to mention the staggering costs
associated with diabetes and its complications. It has been estimated
that the total health-care expenditures for diabetes in the USA is well
over $100 billion per year in both direct and indirect costs, or about
12% of all health-care expenditures.

Conventional Treatment

There is
currently no FDA-approved treatment for syndrome X. Conventional
medicine has approached this syndrome mostly in a piece-meal fashion by
prescribing drug medicine such as statins for blocking cholesterol
production in the liver, diuretics for lowering blood pressure, and
anti-diabetics to improve cellular response to insulin or insulin for
insulin-dependent diabetes. There is little emphasis on diet, exercise
and lifestyle changes as well as effective stress and weight management.
The lack of comprehensive or integrative approach towards syndrome X and
diabetes result in ever-rising rates of cardiovascular disease and other
complications.

Perspectives from Chinese Medicine

The first
recorded pattern of syndrome X and diabetes appeared over three thousand
years ago in the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine. Chinese Medicine
viewed syndrome X as weakened functioning of the vital organs,
especially spleen, pancreas and kidneys; accumulation of dampness and
mucus, and heat inflammation of liver. Weak digestive and kidney
functions lead to toxin built-up that, in turn, creates mucus and
dampness. All of which overwhelms the liver, causing it to produce more
fatty globules (triglycerides and cholesterol) as it processes the
toxins. Chinese Medicine attributes hereditary factors, excess
consumption of fats and sweets, obesity, emotional stress, hormonal
imbalance and infections as potential causes of syndrome X.

Integrative Treatment

Successful
treatment of syndrome X in Chinese medicine involves an integrative
approach including acupuncture, herbal medicine, diet and nutrition,
exercise, stress management and life style changes. Many studies have
been conducted in China on metabolic syndromes including syndrome X and
diabetes. The integrative model as described above yielded the best
results compared with drug-only treatments.

Acupuncture,
for example, has been clinically proven to lower blood glucose level and
blood pressure. Experiments on animals suggest that acupuncture affects
glucose metabolism by influencing the hippocampus of the brain.

Medicinal
herbs such as astragalus, Chinese wild yam and hawthorn berry can yield
excellent effects on lowering cholesterol, reduce mucus and plaque and
modulating insulin metabolism. One large-scale study in 1992 consisting
of 10,618 cases in China on a particular herbal preparation in the
treatment of metabolic syndrome or diabetes resulted in 17% complete
remission rate and an overall 77% improvement rate.

Exercise such
as aerobics and Tai Chi, for example, are effective for reducing insulin
resistance. Regular exercise daily allows the muscles cells to take up
the excess glucose in the blood stream. Tai Chi has been found to
increase efficiency in metabolism, thereby, useful in balancing blood
sugar levels.

Effective
stress management through meditation and other techniques can reduce
stress hormones that causes further imbalance in glucose metabolism.

Diet and Nutritional Therapy

The main goal
in treating insulin resistance and pre-diabetes is to help your body
relearn to use insulin normally. You can do several things to help reach
this goal. Below are some dietary and nutritional tips to help you
regain control of your health:

Avoid all
sugar and foods containing sugar, such as pastry, candy and soft
drinks

Limit the
amount of fat and substitute polyunsaturated fats for the saturated
type when possible. Fish and poultry are especially recommended
instead of fatty cuts of meat. Greasy, fried foods are strongly
discouraged.

Eat
smaller, more frequent meals, rather than the two or three big meals
most people consume daily.

The HCF
(high-carbohydrate high plant-fiber) diet

The
calorie intake consists of 70-75% complex carbohydrates, 15-20%
protein and only 5-10% fat, and the total fiber content is almost
100 grams/day.

Lose
weight and lower the risks of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Reversing Syndrome X and diabetes

A major study
has verified the benefits of healthy lifestyle changes and weight loss.
In 2001, the National Institutes of Health completed the Diabetes
Prevention Program (DPP), a clinical trial designed to find the most
effective ways of preventing type 2 diabetes in overweight people with
pre-diabetes. The researchers found that lifestyle changes reduced the
risk of diabetes by 58%. Also, many people with pre-diabetes returned to
normal blood glucose levels.

Getting Started with Integrative
Therapies

First, I
recommend that when patients seek integrative medical approach to their
metabolic syndrome or diabetes, they should stay on conventional drug
therapy while incorporating modalities of Chinese medicine. As
improvements are measured through blood and other tests, patients should
be proactive in working with their GP or specialist to reduce their
medications. As studies have shown, it is possible to be in complete
remission from syndrome X or type II diabetes when the patient makes a
committed effort to gain control of their health through the above
mentioned steps. However, it is imperative that patients donít stop
their medication without consulting their doctors. Doing so may
jeopardize their health and the chance for recovery.

Secondly,
choose a competent practitioner of Chinese medicine. Choose someone who
has graduated from an accredited institute, is licensed and has
experience in working with metabolic disorders. You can search for a
licensed practitioner in your area on Acupuncture.Com